


Learning the Difference Between "Love" and "In Love"

by byerswill



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Caught, Established Relationship, First Time, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Suggestive Themes, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, allusions to sexual content, i tag way too much :), just there!!, not really but they make out quite a bit, referenced tho, so brief it isn't even important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 08:50:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14712954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byerswill/pseuds/byerswill
Summary: As Eddie Kaspbrak wakes up from one of the most memorable nights of his life, he begins to question what it's like to be in love with someone. While pondering, he's interrupted by an unwanted visitor, and left with many unexpected answers.





	Learning the Difference Between "Love" and "In Love"

The cracks in the blinds were inconvenient, Eddie quickly realized, as the morning light shone abrasively through the window above Richie’s twin bed. The peaceful, post-coital morning that Eddie craved for was interrupted by this particularly bright effect, the rays irritating his bleary eyes, squinting unamused as he blinked awake involuntarily.

He whined, his head immediately pressing to the hard surface below him to block out the harsh glare. Well, the _hard surface_ actually being the nude chest of his boyfriend, Richie. _Woah. Nude boy. Boyfriend. Nude boyfriend, his boyfriend. Nice._ One of his lanky arms rested around Eddie’s waist, the other underneath his head, curls spreading around the form of his forearm haphazardly. The man, despite Eddie’s motions of discomfort, remained sound asleep, the only noise in the quiet of the room being his soft snore and the morning birds outside the window.

Eddie yawned, gathering some aspect of awareness. He took in more of his surroundings briefly. The deep ocean color of Richie’s comforter wrapped around the two cuddling forms, bunching up at Eddie’s lower back. Eddie could barely feel the chill of the fresh morning air breezing through the open window, as Richie’s bare chest pressed against his own; a heat shared between the two boys that Eddie found himself snuggling into with no shame.

 _Last night had to have been a dream_ , Eddie thought.

But it wasn’t. It was real. So, so real. It all sparked at the movie night at Bill’s, hands resting on bare thighs under shared blankets, Richie’s heavy breath against Eddie’s skin as the tension rose high with the shitty rom-com playing on the living room TV. The drive home to Richie’s, which the two knew were vacant of parents for the night, left the car with the feeling of heated tension that neither of the two minded. Giggling and stumbling to the front porch, pressing lips sloppily across blushing skin. The soft patter of rain hitting the roof as the two scrambled up the stairs and to the bed; the twinkle lights shining against their sweating figures with each passing moment of intensity, a closeness that Eddie had never experienced before that fateful evening.

 _Yeah, definitely real._ Eddie thought. He softly giggled, a sugary sweet sound that Richie would have definitely commented on if he were awake. Eddie sighed, focusing on the way Richie remained in the relaxed state, gazing fondly at the sleeping boy below him.

His fingertips lifted hesitantly, pressing themselves lightly to Richie’s collarbone timidly so he didn’t wake Richie up from his slumber. He brushed along the contours of his skin, alternating from side to side in a methodical manner. Even though Richie acted as Eddie’s own personal heater, Eddie could feel little dots of goosebumps lifting up to the surface of his skin. He settled his focus to one side, pressing his blunt nails slightly and scratching, the forming rosiness of his sensitive skin entertaining Eddie’s morning grogginess.

His fingers traveled, moving closer to where his chest met his shoulders, following along the areas where his abused flesh stuck out rebelliously purple against his pale skin. There was a line of the mouth-shaped bruises, flowing down in a pathway going south at the center of his torso, stopping just below his ribcage. Eddie couldn’t help the blush that rose to his own skin, the proof of the night’s previous pleasure placing a soft grin to his face.

Eddie lifted his gaze from his current movements, taking a good look at the sleeping man underneath him. His freckles were sporadic, from his cheekbones to his nose, little dots that splayed across his features. Eddie compared the formation to the window above his head, where rain was sprinkling outside, hitting the thick plastic in random splotches at an uncontrollable angle. _Beautiful_ , Eddie thought. The way his brows formed in this resting state, soft and relaxed, as if the day’s worries never even seemed to occur.

His mouth lay parted slightly, Richie’s breathing a quiet whim. Enamored by the plump, pink feature, he drew the pads of his fingers across the chapped flesh, dragging his lip just slightly. He wanted to kiss those dumb lips again, and kept wishing his boyfriend would just wake up already. He ceased his movements, taking his hand and resting it next to the space where his chin pressed firmly to Richie’s skin.

His left hand came from under the blankets, placing itself to Richie’s right shoulder. It brushed up and to the back of his neck, playing with the little wispys that sprang from the nape of his neck; twisting and curling into uneven tendrils that Eddie absolutely adored. His hand fell from his hair down to his jawline. He could feel the mild scratching of stubble against his fingertips, appreciating the rough prickles against his baby-soft skin.

A dreamboat like Richie Tozier dating Eddie truly appalled him. Eddie never, in a million light years, would have ever seen himself in this position. He didn’t think it was possible to be where he was now, especially in a hometown like Derry, Maine, where doing this isn’t something seen every single day. A town like this doesn’t take kindly to two _boys_ in love.

Eddie’s eyes widened, nearly gasping and stopping his thoughts abruptly from going any further. Love was such a strong word, one that neither had gathered the courage to say to one another just yet. Eddie had never been in love before. Sure, he loved his friends, and his friends loved him, but that was all friendly _I-care-for-you-and-your-well-being_ love. He loved his mom, no matter how overbearing in nature she was, but it was nothing like actually being _in love_. Eddie was sure of that fact.

He loved running, his pet fish, Klaus Petrovich the Third, and his favorite TV show characters, but he didn’t know what being in love was like. If Eddie was in love with Richie Tozier, he hoped the other boy would know that he felt that way, and help him figure it out fully. This was a ridiculous expectation, but in reality, the situation sort of scared him. It’s like jumping into a dark lake off of a cliff, an unknown abyss that no one can predict the outcome of. Maybe Richie would show him that new experience, too, and prove him wrong, like all the other things the two boys shared with each other in the recent months of their dating.

In his fixation, Eddie didn’t even hear the sound of footsteps coming from outside the door and down the hallway, coming towards his boyfriend’s room. If he did, he rationally would have done what anyone else would have. You know, maybe getting up from the current cuddling position into a less intimate one. Or, maybe hiding himself under the covers just a little bit, so that the marks Richie had left on _him_ wouldn’t be as noticeable as they were.

However, luck kneed Eddie square in the groin, and proceeded to kick sand in his face, because before he could come back down to Earth, the door opened softly, an attempt at not waking the sleeping beast in the room. Obviously, this intruder had no clue to the fact that not only one body was in the space, but _two_ bodies. Two very bare, male bodies, in one confinement.

Well there, in the doorway, was Maggie Tozier. The woman who wasn’t supposed to be home until later that night, according to Richie’s previous promises. The poor woman who gave birth and raised the idiot below him. The _idiot_ who swore no one would be home this early.

“Hey Richie, what did you do with the-” her voice cut off as she fully opened the door, taking sight at the scene before her.

Eddie whipped his head, making direct eye contact with the now speechless woman. Eddie felt his skin heating up from something entirely new, mimicking the look of shock on the woman’s face. Embarrassment coursed through his veins as the awkwardness of the moment dawned on him abruptly.

“Good morning,” Eddie spoke, timidly breaking the silence. _Shit, shit, shit._ Eddie could feel full blown panic mode stirring, a big red flashing light going off in his brain that was screaming _“MAYDAY, MAYDAY, YOU STUPID IDIOT!”_

Eddie was gonna die. Right there, right then. Nearly naked, and in front of his boyfriend’s mom.

On top of his sleeping boyfriend, who was also almost naked.

Fuck.

“Hi, Eddie,” Maggie finally said, unsure of where to proceed. “Richie didn’t tell me you were here,” Eddie felt awkward and ashamed, feeling as though he needed to leave as soon as possible to avoid any further embarrassment.

“I am so sorry,” Eddie sat up slightly, thankful for the dark blue comforter still covering some of himself. “I-I can leave right now,”

“What?” Maggie furrowed her brows, confused. “Why would you leave?”

Eddie’s mouth opened to say something, yet nothing came out. He stared, and stared. “Uh,” he began. “You, uh… what?”

“You just caught me off guard,” the corners of her mouth lifted just barely, a closed smile gracing her features as she spoke. “I’m leaving now,”

Just as she turned to close the door and leave, Eddie couldn’t control his confusion, “wait, you aren’t upset?”

“Upset? No,” she laughed, loud and brave just like her son’s. Who Eddie was still on top of. “Surprised? Not really,”

Eddie cringed at the situation before him before settling on something he did not consider. A crease formed between Eddie’s eyebrows, confusion clear on the poor boy’s face. Before he could get any other words out, she spoke again.

“Eddie, my son doesn’t shut up about how much he’s in love with you, of course I’m not upset,”

Eddie sat, gobsmacked again for what felt like the millionth time in the past five minutes, “I-I didn’t know you knew,” being the only sentence he could form in his shock.

_My son is in love with you. My son. Richie. Richie is in love with you. With you._

“Even if Richie didn’t tell me, I would know,”

“Oh, um,” Eddie didn’t know what to say. “Thank you,”

“Don’t mention it,” she winked in that typical mom I-know-everything fashion, the door closing with a soft click. Her humming could be heard as she departed down the hallway, tending to whatever task she had next to complete.

Richie Tozier, in love. _With Eddie_ . The words replayed in his mind as heat prickled his cheeks, his heart exploding with what could only be chalked up as a previously unknown journey — _love._ Except now, he felt secure in this emotion, not doubting it for a minute

Of course they’ve been friends for years, which did lead to the inevitability of their relationship, yet Eddie is still taken aback by the declaration. _In love_ . Now, Eddie knew the exact difference between love and in love; completely and irrevocably in love with someone. Being _in love_ was a bursting feeling, exploding deep in the concaves of his heart every time Richie was near. The ever-growing blush on his cheeks at every compliment, or hand hold, or kiss; the bubbling laughter at every joke, no matter how stupid or un-funny it was; the confirmation that yes, Richie Tozier was completely and irrevocably in love with him, too.

After all of this time, Eddie never had an epiphany quite like this one. Being _in love_ , something that Eddie Kaspbrak could finally admit with a full confidence, knowing that the man he cherished, more than anything, felt the exact same way.

Richie felt the same way. _His_ Richie. The man that defined what happiness was to Eddie. The only person he’s done _anything_ with: holding hands, kissing, _making love_. Last night wasn’t just a fun time for the two to fuck around; it meant so much more than just two guys going at it. Now, Eddie could recount every single whisper of Richie’s lips, in his ear and on his skin, words that held a deeper meaning than what was said.

_“You are so gorgeous,” I love how you look right now beneath me._

_“I can’t get enough of you,” I love being in this moment with you._

_“I wouldn’t trade you for anyone,”_ _Eddie, I am in love with you._

Eddie fully sat up now, sitting in his _lover’s_ lap and feeling giddy. A bold grin graced his features. “Rich, wake up,” he whispered, leaning over and placing delicate kisses to his cheekbones. He stirred, but to no avail.

“Baby, wake up,” Eddie spoke a little louder, still not wanting to interrupt this morning glow around them, now laced with the new found energy of recognition. He pressed a soft kiss to Richie’s neck, trailing his way down to his collarbones, nipping at the flesh with his teeth with no real sexual intention, but just because he could kiss the man he loved all he wanted, and no one could stop him.

“Hmmph,” Richie grumbled, pushing at Eddie’s face with no real force. His voice was deepened with sleep, speaking with a gruff twang, “gotta give a man a second to wake up before you try for a round two, S’ghetti,”

“Shut up,” he spoke quietly, grinning at the man below him. Richie opened one eye, smiling.

“You been awake long?” He sighed, hands reaching to rest on the skin above Eddie’s boxers.

Ignoring his question, Eddie giggled. “I love you,”

Richie seemed to have lost all signs of just waking up, eyes shooting open as if someone poured cold water all over his face. He lifted himself up, groaning at the stretch on his back, tight from having the weight of his boyfriend all night on him. However, he didn’t mind. Especially at the declaration Eddie so graciously sprung on Richie.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right,” Richie was caught off guard, but the beaming curl of his lips left Eddie feeling that same bursting twist of desire in his belly. _Love._

Eddie placed a kiss to Richie’s lips. “I,” again. “Love,” another. “You,”

Richie’s grin softened against Eddie’s, pulling away. Eddie could see a sparkle twinkling in his eyes. Richie moved his hands from Eddie’s waist, wrapping his arms around Eddie, flushing their bodies together.

“Baby…” Richie whispered into Eddie’s neck, mouth moving against the flushed skin. Eddie’s hands fiddled with Richie’s curls, forearms resting against his shoulders. “I love you, too,”

“I know,” Eddie cheekily responded, tugging at the strands of Richie’s hair. “Your mom told me this morning,”

Richie pulled his head up from the crook of Eddie’s neck, expression changing from sweet to concerned.

“Wait,” Richie tilted his head. “What?”

“Turns out she came home earlier from her business trip than you thought,” he smirked, his head now resting against Richie’s ear, whispering.

“Shit, she didn’t see us, right?” Richie quipped, worried, grip growing stronger in concern around his boy.

“Oh, no,” Eddie said. “She saw us, in all the bare glory,”

“Fuck,” Richie muttered, shaking his head. “Shit, I’m so sorry, Eds,”

“Why didn’t you tell me that she knew?” Eddie wondered, not angered by his boyfriend’s spillage of information, but curious as to why he didn’t tell Eddie about it. “You know, about us,”

“It was a few weeks ago,” Richie sighed. “She caught me coming home from your house at, like, 4am, after you had that argument with your mom,”

“Oh,” Eddie sat up, face to face with Richie.

“Yeah, and uh, she asked me where I was,” he broke eye contact, biting his lip. “I tried to lie, but she pried it out of me, and when I told her she went really quiet for a second, not quite sure how to respond,”

“Was she upset?” That was the whole reason the two kept it a secret for so long. They knew how the town would react, and felt their parents may have felt the same, scaring the boys from ever actually admitting it out loud to anyone other than their best friends.

“No,” he smiled, fondly remembering the moment. “She hugged me a few seconds later. I was so scared, bug, I didn’t even know how to respond after a reaction like that. We sat down on the couch for the next 2 hours, talking about, well, us.” Richie glanced up, gesturing to himself then Eddie at the mention of their relationship. Eddie pushed the bed head curls from Richie’s forehead affectionately. Richie grabbed his wrist, intertwining their fingers and resting the enclosed form of fingers to his cheek.

“That’s when I told her how in love with you I was,” Richie confessed, kissing the back of Eddie’s hand. “Well, sort of. She asked me how I felt about you, and I just waxed poetic on how perfect and gorgeous I thought you were, before she shook her head at me and _told_ me that I was in love with you,”

“Your mom had to tell you that you were in love?” Eddie laughed, shaking his head.

“Yep,” Richie mimicked the laughter. “It was actually really funny, I could imagine the look on my face now. She was definitely right, after I thought about it for awhile. I went upstairs that night and didn’t sleep, and she was so right it’s unreal, Eds.”

“You sap,” Eddie decided it was time to share his side of the story. “She walked in this morning, while you were still sleeping. She took one look at us, before I started to apologize, and she just smiled,” He paused. “She told me that even if you didn’t tell her you were in love with me, that she would’ve already known regardless,”

“Clearly,” Richie removed his hand from Eddie’s, pressing it back to its original spot on Eddie’s waist before brushing it up and down on his side. Eddie shivered, a sigh escaping his lips.

Richie shook his head, a smile engraved to his face, before pulling Eddie forward by his cheeks. Their breaths intermingled, lips brushing against one another as Richie guided one hand to the back of Eddie’s head. He let his fingers curl into the roots of the brunette waves, releasing another soft sound of appreciation from his boyfriend.

“Beautiful,” Richie whispered, a sound against the lips of his lover’s grin.

Despite the confession-ridden energy that suffocated the boys in the room, they met in a kiss that only spoke one word. The passion was not excluded, of course, but it wasn’t with the same frantic nature that they often found themselves following. It was so much different now than it had been just the night before. Now, they took their time to explore one another’s mouths, as if they never had learned the details so closely before. Eddie’s tongue brushed against Richie’s bottom lip, erupting a quiet whimper from Richie’s throat. Richie followed Eddie’s pace, his own tongue meeting Eddie’s before pulling away. Before Eddie could whine at the premature ending to their embrace, Richie mouthed at Eddie’s jaw. Kiss after kiss being placed against the heated skin, taking his time to add softer marks to the unclaimed territory on his skin, a repertoire of love bites that Eddie secretly loved ranging from an array of colors and sizes.

Eddie moaned softly as Richie bit a sensitive area of his skin. Richie repeated this for awhile, a consistent repetition of bite, suck, and kiss. Eddie laughed breathlessly, before saying, “did you know that your morning breath is awful?”, ultimately breaking the growing heat of the moment. Richie suddenly stopped his attack, lifting his head from the crook of his neck before a boisterous laugh burst from his lips. Eddie joined in, enjoying the incredulous look in Richie’s gaze.

“I am so in love with you,” Richie whispered after calming down. He set his forehead against Eddie’s, refusing to let go of the intimacy shared, even if Eddie’s comment brought a playful tone to the current atmosphere.

“I’m in love with you,” Eddie repeated.

“Okay, _my love_ ,” Richie smirked, “wanna go eat some breakfast?”

“Only if you brush your fucking teeth,” He took himself off of Richie’s lap, climbing down from the bed in search of more layers to put on.

Richie followed suit, standing up and stretching out his behemoth limbs. “Why would I brush them before I eat?” He questioned with a groan.

He watched as Eddie searched around his chaotic bedroom, clothes and other miscellaneous items strewn all over the floor and shelves. The messy space typically bothered Eddie. It always gave him a slight itch of discomfort seeing the disorganized chaos of Richie’s room, usually cleaning it for him, even if it’s just putting clothes into the near empty hamper in the corner of the room. However, Eddie could care less in this moment - trying to find something to cover his chill as he shivered in the drafty room.

He finally found something clean enough and worth wearing, bending over to pick it up from the floor. While Eddie was turned around, Richie took the time to admire the tight fit of Eddie’s dark grey boxers, firmly hugging his thighs and ass that Richie couldn’t get enough of. Richie’s thoughts guided down a path that reminded him of that thickness underneath his large hands, doing sinful things that resulted in muted whimpers to fall from Eddie’s lips.

Eddie took the zip up hoodie he had picked off the ground and put it on, the sleeves dangling as the length of it was too long for Eddie’s small frame. He turned around and noticed the wandering eyes that were staring at him.

“What are you thinking about?” Eddie walked past Richie, who still gazed at him with a distracted smile on his face.

“Hmm, nothing,” Richie smirked devilishly, definitely not ignoring the mimicked expression on Eddie’s face as he bit his lip, obviously remembering the feeling, too.

He reached past Richie, grabbing a pair of the taller boy’s sweatpants from the corner of the bed and slipping into them one leg at a time. He huffed, noticing the length of these, too, rolling them up around his ankles so that his feet were uncovered by the obtrusive fabric. He glared bitterly at the ridiculous feat, before looking up and meeting Richie’s eyes, a look of pure astonishment gracing his features.

“Oh my fuck,” Richie declared, grabbing Eddie by the waist and lifting him slightly. “You are so cute! You in my clothes that don’t fit? What a little stud!”

Eddie shrieked, hitting Richie’s shoulder with no real bite. “Richie! Put me down!”

“I can’t,” Richie stopped, feigning concern, grip still tight around Eddie’s abdomen. “If I let you go, you might run away, which we certainly can’t have,”

“Richie, I swear to any and all gods in this universe, if you don’t put me down right now...” Eddie threatened.

“What are you gonna do about it, punkass?” Richie challenged.

“I’ll kick your scrawny ass,”

“Sounds intriguing,”

“That’s really weird,”

“Aw, Eds, you’re breaking my heart,”

Suddenly, Eddie had an idea. From his viewpoint, his head was right next to Richie’s right shoulder. So, like any rational person would do, he began to press soft kisses to Richie’s flesh to create a distraction, listening to the quiet sigh from Richie as the grip even started to loosen just slightly. However, this didn’t satisfy Eddie enough, so he sank his teeth into Richie’s shoulder and bit, _hard_.

“Ouch!” Richie screeched, dropping Eddie to rub at the painful ache in his shoulder. “You’re like a fucking cat, gets pissy whenever they’re handled for too long,”

“Your mom probably thinks I’m murdering you,” Eddie smiled triumphantly, shrugging his shoulders and before finding another hoodie for Richie to wear.

“Good, maybe she can ban you from attacking me ever again,” 

“You didn’t seem to mind my attacks that last night,” Eddie raised his eyebrows, reflecting wolfishly as Richie slipped the clothing item up and over his bruise-ridden shoulders. The hoodie had the outline of a dinosaur on it, with the words “all my friends are dead” hovering above the creature. Paired with the palm tree print on his boxers, Eddie rolled his eyes at his ridiculous fashion choices. _Dumbass_ , he thought fondly.

“If I wasn’t sneak attacked,” Richie pointed an accusing finger, “then maybe I’d enjoy it now, too,” 

“Good to know,” Eddie giggled. He took a step closer to Richie, reaching up to wrap his arms around his neck. He stood on his tiptoes, placing a delicate kiss to Richie’s frown. Richie softened, arms going to Eddie’s waist yet again, as he followed suit of Eddie’s movements. Here they were, 10am on a Saturday, in his boyfriend’s clothes and embrace. This was the only place Eddie wanted to be, with his lips attached to the man he loved as the two shared soft giggles together.

“I love you,” Richie promised.

“I love you,” Eddie smiled, knowing he was never going to get tired of that phrase coming from Richie, ever.

 _Breakfast could wait,_ was Eddie’s final thoughts before Richie fell onto the bed, Eddie following on top of him laughing. Being _in love_ was better than Eddie could have ever imagined.  

And to be in love with someone like Richie Tozier, well, that was a first experience that Eddie would want to be his last as well.

**Author's Note:**

> i edited this but it's like 5am and i've been writing all night, so i'm super delirious rn lmao! i'm not as fond necessarily of my writing style in here, but more so character dynamic, dealing with complexities of closeted relationships, and little tidbits like falling in love, yknow cheesy shit like someone's first time, which is something i'm really attracted to in writing. i hope you guys liked this. comments and kudos are much appreciated :-)


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